Sunday September 4, 2005 It's a bit scary out there.

It's a bit scary knowing that our leaders seem to have no ability to preplan. What, me worry? Why worry about the national debt? It will take care of itself in the future. Why worry about an exit strategy for Iraq? We'll win and go home. Why worry about the aftermath of a hurricane until it has passed.

What's going to happen if terrorists attack some urban center with biological or chemical weapons? Will we just have meetings and wring our hands for a while before trying to help those who survived? It's not like we haven't had warnings. It's not an unexpected event. We had to know that someday a hurricane was going to hit New Orleans. Someday a volcano will blow near a major town. Someday an earthquake will strike a city. Someday another tsunami will hit our shores. We know this!

Is this the best we can do to help our own people?

We're getting help from poorer countries all over the world. They have to be wondering why we aren't faster in response. The terrorists will be watching this response and it will help them decide their next type of attack.

As the hurricane was approaching, I heard analysts assessing the levee system at New Orleans. They said that it was only designed for a category 3 hurricane at best. They said that it wasn't worth the additional billion or so to beef it up to handle more. The corps of engineers budget has been cut over the last few years, so their hands were tied. It should have been no surprise when the levee failed and the town flooded! It didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that a town below sea level might get flooded.

When I was a child, we had fire drills in school. In my area they test the tornado warning system and people know to take cover in basements. Was there no thought given to the population along the coast and no preparation for anticipated catastrophe?

What are our leaders for, except to help us protect ourselves and provide for the common good? What happens next time?